One SBA Loan Helps Two Businesses Grow

Scott Stein is a true entrepreneur. With two robust small businesses, he is poised for growth with the help of an SBA loan from SmartBiz.

A former Wall Street stockbroker turned insurance professional, he jokes that he is one of the few who went into the insurance industry purposely.

“No matter what people think, it’s interesting and exciting to me!” he says. He’s now been a practicing property casualty insurance agent for over 20 years and an agency owner for more than 10 years.

The first business he established after Wall Street was Risk Management Partners, Inc. in Delray Beach, Florida. With a focus on property casualty insurance and a specialty in liability, the firm is dedicated to meeting the highly detailed and often complicated commercial insurance needs not found in most other independent agencies.

Stein has parlayed his insurance expertise into a lucrative second enterprise. Eight years ago he was involved in a court case as an expert witness. He knew nothing about the expert witness field or how it worked but found it fascinating. “I immediately knew that this was something I was good at and wanted to continue.”

He’s now been hired in over 100 cases as a forensic expert witness. His areas of expertise are vast and he’s worked on cases involving agent standards and practices, workers’ compensation insurance and “everything in between.”

He’s kept very busy. “I was just sent a bankers box of materials that can contain 5,000 documents. This particular client needs a written report for the courts in a week. There are times when I’m flooded with 7 or 8 cases. It’s an awful lot and I end up working nights and weekends.”

Even though he puts in many hours, he finds the work rewarding and wants to grow that business. “I enjoy being part of the legal process and using my knowledge to make sure justice is served.” He will be using proceeds from his SBA loan to explore new marketing channels and build a website that is expert witness specific.

“I want to interview for telemarketing positions that I’ll be hiring on a 1099 basis. I’m going to have the telemarketers contact law firms who do insurance defense work to pitch me as an expert witness. I’m excited to expand that part of my business.”

Before ramping up marketing efforts, Rich knew he needed to find affordable funds. “I’ve never received a loan other than a line of credit through a bank that I only used occasionally. I knew that I couldn’t grow my business the way I wanted to without another type of loan.”

He started exploring funding options and came across SmartBiz during an online search.

“I did a lot of research. I’m one of those people who wants to know every detail before I start in on something. The more I read about the SmartBiz process the more I understood and realized that the technology used by the application platform is incredible.”

Stein secured a $120,000 loan at 6.0% with a 10-year term and a monthly payment of approximately $1,335. His loan was funded in just two business weeks and four business days.

Stein worked closely with SmartBiz team member Andrew. “I can’t say enough positive things about Andrew and how much I appreciate everything he did. He was nothing other than a gentleman and handled everything professionally.”